Kathy Swan, former state representative and president of JCS Wireless, has been named to the board of directors of Southeast Missouri Food Bank.
As a new member on the Board of Directors, Swan will oversee financial programming and other aspects of the Food Bank's fiscal responsibility with donors and donations, as well as guide the strategic vision of the organization's future.
Swan served four terms in the Missouri House of Representatives, earning a reputation as an advocate for healthcare and education.
Joey Keys, chief executive officer of Southeast Missouri Food Bank, explained that Swan has always been a friend of the food bank, and that the history of her previous work will offer a helpful perspective to the organization’s overall mission.
“She would have great insight to advocacy programs, and she's also very involved with many other organizations in southeast Missouri that we work with, provide food to, and help support programs directly with.”
Swan said that with this new opportunity, she hopes to bring attention to the reality that oftentimes the community does forget areas of southeast Missouri have high rates of poverty and food insecurity.
One in six families and one in five children in southeast Missouri live in homes where they do not have the resources to acquire enough food.
The Southeast Missouri Food Bank provides food to 143 charitable and disaster relief programs in the region, including pantries, soup kitchens, domestic violence and homeless shelters. The organization also holds regular mobile food distributions and provides monthly boxes of food to senior citizens and food during the school year to students in 32 school districts.
Swan became an active board member at the Southeast Missouri Food Bank, beginning in June, 2021.